At one time it was funny to talk about priests and their supposed proclivity for little boys. These jokes were morbid but amusing, in an ironic sort of way. Everyone had heard the ostensibly fictional stories of someone’s distant relative being molested by a clergyman way back when. The unspoken thought was that some priests may have had a problem with pedophilia, but most were fine.
In rapid order the ironic jokes, along with the assumed innocence of priests and the Roman Catholic Church as a whole, evaporated. A disgusting sex abuse scandal is now playing out in the public arena. It turns out certain Catholic priests have been molesting kids by the dozen, and thus far the majority of offenders have been doing so with impunity. It’s difficult to get past the image of “holy” men using their position to lure young men into a forced sexual relationship.
What makes this revolting situation worse is the past cover-up and the ongoing plot to obfuscate the truth perpetrated by the Catholic Church. In what can only be described as a disturbing circumstance, abusive priests in some dioceses were shuffled from one parish to another after allegations of mistreatment surfaced.
The scandal triggered a flood of accusations toward the church and eventually resulted in a papal assembly where the cardinals of the American Roman Catholic Church met to work through this difficult situation.
In what was seems to have been a groundbreaking revelation for the Church, Pope John Paul II declared Tuesday there is “no place in the priesthood … for those who would harm the young.” For most people grounded in reality with even a modicum of moral consciousness, this is certainly not a challenging position.
The pope’s edict will not be fully implemented, however, as American Church leaders yesterday recommended a special process to defrock any priest who has become “notorious and is guilty of the serial, predatory sexual abuse of minors.” The fate of sex abusers who are not of the “notorious” variety will be left up to local bishops.
This morally bereft decision epitomizes the modern Catholic Church, where emphasis is placed on perception and control rather than on becoming a righteous organization. The Church today is a ritualistic culture based on penance, and the priesthood has become a secret society in which indiscretions are glossed over.
Shepherds’ feasting on the sheep is not the way the system is supposed to work, without a clear message from the Vatican that men preying on boys (or any other type of sexual abuse) shall not be permitted. A pedophile who happens to be a priest is still a pedophile, and unless the Catholic Church wants to become the poster organization for NAMBLA, (North American Man-Boy Love Association) immediate expulsion and criminal investigation need to be the normal process for clergymen who molest children. Without a unified voice explicitly condemning these actions, the Church will continue to see a deterioration of its moral authority.
The Church must seek out long-term solutions for this disturbing problem. An obvious approach would be to directly address the dilemma of priests maintaining their vows of celibacy. The next logical step would be to openly speak of homosexuality within the priesthood. Both issues must be dealt with resoundingly in order to prevent the tragic and deplorable acts now occurring.
In light of recent revelations, the church should no longer require priests to remain celibate. Pope John Paul II has emphatically expressed his disagreement with this idea, but no matter, his tenure will end soon and the antiquated vow should end with him. Allowing priests to marry may alleviate some of the problems the church is encountering. Tackling the issue of homosexuality will be a much more difficult task. The Roman Catholic Church has gay priests — this much is obvious; whether the Church acknowledges and accepts this is an entirely different issue. Without suggesting homosexuality and pedophilia are inherently linked, the church must objectively accept or deny the presence of gay priests within the clergy.
If no real changes are made, the Catholic Church will not last, at least not in America. A church which tolerates — tacitly or not — the abuse of the weakest segment of society has no place within our society. If the Church itself fails to act, there must be a serious reckoning of the law. Sex-offending priests need to know that no number of Hail Marys will save them from serious jail time.
James P. Kent ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in economics and business management.
